DC Assets Fall in 2008; Share of Retirement Assets Rises

Total U.S. defined-contribution assets dropped 21 percent last year to $3.8 trillion, but the percentage of retirement assets coming from DC plans rose to an all-time high of 49 percent, according to a Spectrem Group report.

Also in the report released Wednesday, March 18, “Retirement Market Insights 2009,” Spectrem wrote that U.S. retirement assets tumbled 24 percent in 2008 to $7.86 trillion.

The overall share of retirement assets from DC plans grew from 47 percent in 2007.